BATTLING uncertainty since the government announced plans to widen a road through an ancient market near the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, owners of premises in the area are protesting against “a double blow”, following a move to collect pending property tax dues.
The widening of the Dalmandi road is the second-largest development project in Varanasi after the revamp of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, since the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh. The 650-metre stretch of Dalmandi, housing about 500 shops, is one of Varanasi’s busiest commercial hubs. The plan is to expand it more than four times, from 3-4 metres now to 17.4 metres, at a cost of Rs 215.88 crore – ending about 300 metres from the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
Five months after the project was announced, the Varanasi Municipal Corporation recently directed the executing authority, the Public Works Department (PWD), to deduct pending property tax dues from the compensation to be paid to owners of buildings marked for partial or complete demolition.
There are 187 such buildings along the Dalmandi road, populated mostly by Muslims. As per the municipal corporation, dues amounting to nearly Rs 2.28 crore, including house, water and sewer taxes, are pending against 170 of the 187 structures.
Officials said that despite several reminders over the years, the owners have failed to clear the outstanding amounts. “We have submitted a detailed report to the District Magistrate,” Varanasi Municipal Commissioner Akshat Verma says, adding that the civic body has recommended that the dues be adjusted against the compensation to be awarded for the demolitions.
Since this became known, sources said, several building owners are having second thoughts about accepting the compensation. The owner of a Dalmandi shop says the move to charge tax dues amounts to “double harassment”.
But more than the owners, it is tenants who are apprehensive as they are not entitled to any compensation. Most shops in the area are rented properties, with leases passed down generations.
Shahabuddin Ahmed, 55, points to news about the property tax deductions reaching them only through the media, adding that they are in the dark on their fate.
The PWD has marked buildings along the stretch with identification numbers, but served no official notices yet regarding the demolitions. There is no clarity on the compensation to be distributed either, with officials saying it would be based on factors such as the portion of land acquired, the age of the building, and the type of material used for construction.
“This shop is my only source of livelihood,” says 55-year-old Syed Shansha Abidi, a father of three who sells toys from rented premises. “If this shop is taken away, I don’t know how I will survive.”
Rajesh Gandhi, 62, worries about home loans and household expenses. “We never imagined this day.”
Government officials say the project, cleared in July, is essential due to the steep rise in tourists and pilgrims visiting the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and nearby ghats, since the development of the corridor. From 7,000 to 12,000 a day earlier, the footfall is 1 lakh-1.15 lakh now, going up to 2.5 lakh on weekends, and more than 7 lakh on festival days.
In its current state, the Dalmandi road gets easily overrun by traffic. Once widened, it is expected to offer a shorter and more direct route to the temple.
While they acknowledge that the congestion in the area needs a solution, Dalmandi shopkeepers say the government should instead look for an alternative route to the temple.
The fact that the Dalmandi stretch houses six mosques and a temple has complicated matters. The Mufti-e-Shahr, Maulana Abdul Batin Nomani, has written open letters to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and senior Opposition leaders, urging them to explore an alternative route and put the project on hold.
Earlier, the Allahabad High Court did not intervene in the matter, on petitions by a local and the caretaker of a mosque, after the government assured that no possession or demolition would be done without voluntary transfer.
PWD Executive Engineer K K Singh says land would be purchased and buildings demolished only through mutual agreement, with compensation to be provided in accordance with the Right to Fair Compensation & Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Act.
Officials also point to a preliminary inquiry that many buildings along the Dalmandi stretch – including the religious structures – are located at some distance from the road and, hence, may not be affected by the widening.
However, the memory of the displacements during the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor Project are too fresh for many. Around 450 buildings were acquired for that project, again occupied largely by tenants. A senior official says that while owners then were paid based on the value of their land and buildings, the tenants also got some compensation.
Dalmandi, located in the heart of Varanasi’s Old City, adjacent to the temple, is considered at least 200 years old, and now has shops selling everything from home decor, bridal accessories and clothes to cosmetics, artificial jewellery and everyday goods. Serving both wholesale and retail customers, it is considered a hub for wedding shopping in Eastern UP.
Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai, who belongs to the Varanasi area, says that Dalmandi’s importance lay both in offering the less affluent affordable products, as well as its mixed population of Hindus and Muslims. When Kashi Vishwanath could be reached via several routes and other roads could be widened, what was the need to disturb Dalmandi, Rai says.
Alleging that the BJP government’s move was targeted at some people, he adds that it will affect the livelihood of lakhs.
The Samajwadi Party has been running a ‘Save Dalmandi Campaign’. As part of it, a meeting was held in Varanasi on Monday, attended by shopkeepers, political leaders and social activists. The speakers said that apart from the lives affected, the move would deal another blow to Varanasi’s “Ganga-Jamuni culture”, and its heritage.
Says Varanasi SP district president Sujeet Yadav: “We are not against the widening of the road, but the government must make proper arrangements for shopkeepers before demolishing their establishments.”